To the Point
Can the US Afford to Get Rid of Coal? Can It Afford Not to?
This week's disaster in West Virginia dramatizes the human cost of coal mining underground. Surface mining's already the subject of new environmental regulations. What's the future of coal in a country with a boundless appetite for energy? Also, Supreme Court Justice Stevens will step down, and modern politics and the Civil War.
By Warren Olney • • 51m ListenThis week's disaster in West Virginia dramatizes the human cost of coal mining underground. Surface mining's already the subject of new environmental regulations. What's the future of coal in a country with a boundless appetite for energy? Also, Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens says he'll retire, and contemporary politics and the Civil War.
Banner image: A road sign warns traffic of an emergency ahead at the Upper Big Branch Mine on April 6, 2010 in Montcoal, West Virginia. Rescue efforts to save four miners that remain unaccounted for have been suspended due to poison gasses trapped underground after 25 miners were killed in an explosion at Massey Energy Company mine on April 5. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
In this episode
3 storiesJustice Stevens to Step Down
After 35 years on the US Supreme Court, Justice John Paul Stevens says he'll retire at the end of this year's session. He is about to turn 90 years old, and his departure gives President Obama his second chance to shape the highest court in the land. Jeff Bravin covers the court for the Wall Street Journal .
Read the story8 minCoal: A Necessary Evil?
Twenty-five miners are known to have died in this week's massive explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia. The effort to rescue four men still unaccounted for may be a lost cause. Even before this week's tragedy, the Obama Administration took aim at surface coal mining with a new set of environmental regulations.
Read the story36 minConfederate History Month in Virginia
Democrats Mark Warner and Tim Kaine abandoned Confederate History Month when they were governors of Virginia. Republican Bob McDonnell has revived it . In his apology for forgetting to mention slavery, he said the Civil War also "involved other issues…but I focused on the ones I thought were most significant for "Virginia."
Read the story7 min
